It is well known in the art that a forging hammer having a pneumatic cylinder for powering the ram to accelerate the ram to high velocities before the object to be forged is struck and engaged by the ram. It is also common practice in the art to mechanically link a valve shifting mechanism, which reverses the direction of the ram or hammer to the motion of the ram itself. Furthermore, in addition to having the direction of its motion reversed, it is common for the ram to rapidly bounce back. To maintain the valve mechanism in its intended position, hydraulic shock absorbers of the automotive type have been employed in the valve shifting mechanism. Unfortunately, the heat and abrasive particles in a forging atmosphere have a deleterious effect to such hydraulic shock absorbers. As a result, they have an exceedingly variable life, sometimes only a matter of days or weeks.